Easy to Wed
(1946)
109-110 mins | Romantic comedy | 25 July 1946
Director:
Edward BuzzellWriter:
Dorothy KingsleyProducer:
Jack CummingsCinematographer:
Harry StradlingEditor:
Blanche SewellProduction Designers:
Cedric Gibbons, Hans PetersProduction Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.Working titles for this film were Libeled Lady and Early to Wed. A Nov 1944 HR news item noted that actor Frank Morgan was cast, but he did not appear in the final film. Pre-production news items in HR indicate that art director Merrill Pye and unit manager Jay Marchant completed the filming of backgrounds in Mexico City in late Nov 1944. According to a Jan 1946 HR news item, M-G-M decided not to include the song "I'm Gonna Fall in Love with You," which had been set for Van Johnson, due to concerns about audience reaction to Johnson's singing voice. Although the news item also reported that M-G-M had shelved plans to use the slogan "Van Johnson Sings" in its exploitation campaign, the picture does feature Johnson singing a duet with Esther Williams. According to an unidentified, but contemporary item in the file on the film in the AMPAS Library, Williams was to sing "Can't I Do Anything But Swim," a parody of "Everything Happens to Me," which was written by Harriet Lee, as well as "Guabina chinquinquirerna." Easy to Wed was a remake of the 1936 M-G-M picture Libeled Lady, directed by Jack Conway and starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2474). Johnson and Williams recreated their roles for a Lux Radio Theatre version of the story, which was broadcast on 27 Feb 1950. ...
Working titles for this film were Libeled Lady and Early to Wed. A Nov 1944 HR news item noted that actor Frank Morgan was cast, but he did not appear in the final film. Pre-production news items in HR indicate that art director Merrill Pye and unit manager Jay Marchant completed the filming of backgrounds in Mexico City in late Nov 1944. According to a Jan 1946 HR news item, M-G-M decided not to include the song "I'm Gonna Fall in Love with You," which had been set for Van Johnson, due to concerns about audience reaction to Johnson's singing voice. Although the news item also reported that M-G-M had shelved plans to use the slogan "Van Johnson Sings" in its exploitation campaign, the picture does feature Johnson singing a duet with Esther Williams. According to an unidentified, but contemporary item in the file on the film in the AMPAS Library, Williams was to sing "Can't I Do Anything But Swim," a parody of "Everything Happens to Me," which was written by Harriet Lee, as well as "Guabina chinquinquirerna." Easy to Wed was a remake of the 1936 M-G-M picture Libeled Lady, directed by Jack Conway and starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2474). Johnson and Williams recreated their roles for a Lux Radio Theatre version of the story, which was broadcast on 27 Feb 1950.
Libeled Lady
When his newspaper, The Morning Star , accidentally prints a libelous story about Connie Allenbury, the daughter of financial tycoon J. B. Allenbury, Farwood knows that he is in trouble. Infuriated by the newspaper's accusation that his daughter stole a woman's husband, Allenbury vows to file a $2,000,000 libel suit against the paper. Farwood, hoping to save his newspaper from ruin, calls on his business manager, Warren Haggerty, for help. Warren, who is engaged to marry Gladys Benton, calls off his wedding and quickly devises a plan to prevent the suit from advancing. The plan, which is to frame Connie as a co-respondent in a staged wife-stealing scheme, is initiated when Warren hires a former reporter at the newspaper, Bill Stevens Chandler, and prepares to send him to Mexico City, where the Allenburys are vacationing. Then, after assuring her that he will marry her as soon as he finishes his business with the Allenburys, Warren persuades Gladys to temporarily marry Bill in name only so that he can sue him for alienation of affection when a photograph of Bill and Connie is produced. Gladys and Bill are quickly married by a justice of the peace. Bill, accompanied by Warren's friend Spike, goes to Mexico, where he follows the Allenburys and takes a crash course in hunting, which is Allenbury's favorite hobby. At the Hotel Del Rey, Bill endears himself to Connie when he protects her from the unwanted attentions of Spike. Bill later introduces himself to Connie and her father as a writer and a hunting enthusiast. Allenbury quickly befriends Bill and sets a date for a duck hunting expedition. Days pass, and ...
When his newspaper, The Morning Star , accidentally prints a libelous story about Connie Allenbury, the daughter of financial tycoon J. B. Allenbury, Farwood knows that he is in trouble. Infuriated by the newspaper's accusation that his daughter stole a woman's husband, Allenbury vows to file a $2,000,000 libel suit against the paper. Farwood, hoping to save his newspaper from ruin, calls on his business manager, Warren Haggerty, for help. Warren, who is engaged to marry Gladys Benton, calls off his wedding and quickly devises a plan to prevent the suit from advancing. The plan, which is to frame Connie as a co-respondent in a staged wife-stealing scheme, is initiated when Warren hires a former reporter at the newspaper, Bill Stevens Chandler, and prepares to send him to Mexico City, where the Allenburys are vacationing. Then, after assuring her that he will marry her as soon as he finishes his business with the Allenburys, Warren persuades Gladys to temporarily marry Bill in name only so that he can sue him for alienation of affection when a photograph of Bill and Connie is produced. Gladys and Bill are quickly married by a justice of the peace. Bill, accompanied by Warren's friend Spike, goes to Mexico, where he follows the Allenburys and takes a crash course in hunting, which is Allenbury's favorite hobby. At the Hotel Del Rey, Bill endears himself to Connie when he protects her from the unwanted attentions of Spike. Bill later introduces himself to Connie and her father as a writer and a hunting enthusiast. Allenbury quickly befriends Bill and sets a date for a duck hunting expedition. Days pass, and Gladys and Warren get impatient with Bill, who has not yet produced a picture of himself with Connie. Connie eventually realizes that Bill is faking his duck hunting experience when he arrives at the hunting grounds sporting brand new equipment. Bill and the Allenburys split into two boats for the hunt, and Bill is frustrated by his failure to shoot down a single duck. After hours of waiting in the boat with no success, a flock of ducks flies overhead, and, as Bill struggles with his rifle, a shot is accidentally fired into the air. The bullet strikes a duck, which falls from the sky and lands on Bill's head. Allenbury and Connie are impressed by the catch, and later serve the duck for dinner. A romance soon blossoms between Bill and Connie, but Bill, fearing that Gladys is getting impatient and is planning to expose him, stalls for time by feigning romantic interest in her. Suspecting that Bill is romancing Gladys, Warren decides to visit Connie and try to persuade her to drop the suit. After Connie refuses Warren's request, Warren telephones Gladys and tells her that Bill is romantically involved with Connie. Gladys, who believes she is in love with Bill, then goes to the Allenbury estate and tells Allenbury that Bill is her husband. Allenbury is shocked by the news and tells Connie, who tests Bill by asking him to marry her immediately. Bill consents, and they are married by a justice of the peace. Warren and Gladys threaten to expose Bill as a bigamist, but Bill prevents them from doing so by telling Gladys that he has learned that she is still legally married to a man named Joseph Simpson, and that her mail-order divorce was nullified. Gladys surprises Bill, though, when she tells him that she knows about the nullification and that she later got a legal divorce in Reno. All ends happily, though, when the Allenburys drop their suit, and when Gladys and Warren realize that they are truly meant for each other.
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